Undermining democracy

May 11, 2019 |

Following the intervention of the court, the J&K police has registered a case against the state BJP chief Ravinder Raina and former Hindu rightwing party lawmaker Vikram Randhawa for brazen attempts to bribe journalists and thereby influence elections after a press conference in Leh district of the arid Ladakh region on May 2. Initially, the party tried to cover up the incident by claiming that it was a conspiracy by their political opponents. The state chief Raina even went to the extent of saying that his opponents were trying to defame him while threatening to take legal route to deal with the allegations. However, a video clip of the alleged incident soon went viral on social media showing Randhawa handing over white envelopes to the journalists who had attended the press conference. The video also shows Raina present at the spot while Randhawa was handing over the envelopes, allegedly containing huge amounts of cash, to the journalists, some of whom protested against the brazen tactics of the Hindu rightwing party to influence the election coverage. It is admirable that the journalists in Leh didn’t succumb to the BJP’s tactics and instead reported the matter to the district administration of Ladakh for action. The role of the Ladakh district administration, which took cognisance of the journalists’ complaint and immediately carried out a probe, also needs to be appreciated. It was only after the district administration’s probe established that the Hindu rightwing party had prima facie tried to bribe the journalists that the matter was taken seriously and the court ordered the police to file a case into the matter. While some conspiracy theorists are suggesting that the issue was brought into limelight because of infighting in the Hindu rightwing party and that the video clip was ‘deliberately’ leaked on social media to cut the J&K BJP president to size, it nevertheless reflects the mentality prevailing in the BJP which has resorted to all kinds of measures to undermine democracy and disregard the larger will of the people. In this election season, the party seems to be intent on using any and every method to get favourable results. Be it the assembly elections in Goa or the political turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, the Hindu rightwing party has sunk the political discourse in the country to its lowest. Authorities in Leh need to ensure that the case filed into the bribery allegations is taken to its logical conclusions and those involved in the despicable act are punished sternly.

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Undermining democracy

May 11, 2019 |

Following the intervention of the court, the J&K police has registered a case against the state BJP chief Ravinder Raina and former Hindu rightwing party lawmaker Vikram Randhawa for brazen attempts to bribe journalists and thereby influence elections after a press conference in Leh district of the arid Ladakh region on May 2. Initially, the party tried to cover up the incident by claiming that it was a conspiracy by their political opponents. The state chief Raina even went to the extent of saying that his opponents were trying to defame him while threatening to take legal route to deal with the allegations. However, a video clip of the alleged incident soon went viral on social media showing Randhawa handing over white envelopes to the journalists who had attended the press conference. The video also shows Raina present at the spot while Randhawa was handing over the envelopes, allegedly containing huge amounts of cash, to the journalists, some of whom protested against the brazen tactics of the Hindu rightwing party to influence the election coverage. It is admirable that the journalists in Leh didn’t succumb to the BJP’s tactics and instead reported the matter to the district administration of Ladakh for action. The role of the Ladakh district administration, which took cognisance of the journalists’ complaint and immediately carried out a probe, also needs to be appreciated. It was only after the district administration’s probe established that the Hindu rightwing party had prima facie tried to bribe the journalists that the matter was taken seriously and the court ordered the police to file a case into the matter. While some conspiracy theorists are suggesting that the issue was brought into limelight because of infighting in the Hindu rightwing party and that the video clip was ‘deliberately’ leaked on social media to cut the J&K BJP president to size, it nevertheless reflects the mentality prevailing in the BJP which has resorted to all kinds of measures to undermine democracy and disregard the larger will of the people. In this election season, the party seems to be intent on using any and every method to get favourable results. Be it the assembly elections in Goa or the political turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, the Hindu rightwing party has sunk the political discourse in the country to its lowest. Authorities in Leh need to ensure that the case filed into the bribery allegations is taken to its logical conclusions and those involved in the despicable act are punished sternly.